Moata the kiwi chick has just made history as the first captive-bred kiwi to be released into the wild.
The chick, bred at Auckland Zoo, was released into her new home of Motuora Island in the Hauraki Gulf yesterday.
She is the second kiwi chick to be incubated artificially from the time
her egg was laid. The first hatched last July.
Two-month-old Moata, whose name means early - she hatched six days before she was due - is the offspring of Omeka and Raki, who have been together since the early 1980s and have produced many chicks.
She will share her new home with dozens of other kiwi on Motuora. When her weight reaches 1kg she will be released on to the mainland, because she will be big enough to defend herself against stoats, a major predator of young kiwi.
nzherald.co.nz/environment
